Times Are Getter Darker
by C1ofUnknown
Summary: Set in a different reality of Harry's fifth year. Voldemort is rapidly gaining power and an International Coalition of wizards and Giants must be formed to defend the innocent, and why are so many students being sorted into Slytherin?
1. The Warnings

Disclaimer: I did not create most of the characters in this story. That honor goes to J.K. Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter books. So, I do not own these characters except for the few that I created. If you have read all the Harry Potter books, you will know what ones I have created.  
  
This is my first fan-fic, and I did not proofread it although I probably should have. I know it doesn't have too much of Harry Potter in it at the moment, but it will in the following chapters. I feel that this chapter is necessary for the later chapters to make sense.  
  
Times Are Getter Darker  
  
Chapter One: The Warnings A black dog was running. To some it appeared that it had a definite place to go, but not like going home. It seemed that the dog was going somewhere else. However, these people dismissed their notions because dogs weren't that intelligent. Sure, many of them could pick up on a few words of English (sit, stay, lay down, be quiet), but the only places that dogs went with it in their minds were their homes, but the black dog was no ordinary dog; many people-wizards and Muggles-alike did not know it, but this dog was actually Sirius Black on an extremely important mission. He was an unregistered, and therefore illegal, Animagus, and the only people that knew he was one were Professor Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwart's; Ron Weasley, a student of Hogwart's; Hermione Granger, another student at the same school; Harry Potter, another student at the school, a friend of Hermione and Ron, and Black's godson; Molly Weasley, Ron's mother and apparently a friend of Albus Dumbledore; Remus Lupin, one of the former Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers at Hogwart's, a werewolf, and a friend of Black's; Peter Pettigrew a.k.a. Wormtail, a former friend of Black and Lupin, and Pettigrew was the one that framed Black for a horrendous crime; possibly Voldemort, the Dark Lord, and the murderer of Harry's parents if Pettigrew told Voldemort that Black was an Animagus. Shortly after the death of Harry's parents, Pettigrew had approached Black, in a crowded area, cut off his own finger, yelled, "Lily and James! How could you, Sirius!" very loud, and "blew the street up," killing twelve Muggles in the process, transformed into a rat-Pettigrew was also an illegal Animagus, and hid in the sewers for some time, until he managed to become a pet of Percy Weasley who named him Scabbers and then gave him to his youngest brother, Ron. Shortly after Pettigrew murdered twelve Muggles and faked his death-the first time (he had also faked his death as Scabbers, making sure the evidence pointed to Hermione's cat, Crookshanks)- Cornelius Fudge showed up and Black was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent for jail for murdering thirteen people: Pettigrew and the twelve Muggles that Pettigrew had murdered. Black had managed to escape and was not caught since. Dumbledore had ordered Black to alert "Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg.the old crowd" So he had alerted two people already, and was on his way to Lupin's home. "Lie low at Lupin's for a while. I will contact you there," Dumbledore had said. 'Ah, finally, I've reached Lupin's,' thought Black, then he heard the noise, 'But what's that noise? Is tonight a full moon? Oh no! It is! Lupin probably won't be able to let me into his house in that state even though he's no harm to me as long as I'm in my canine state.' After several minutes of thinking, Black decided to go into the back yard and sleep there until morning. ****** 'Arabella Figg!?' Harry thought, waking up suddenly in the middle of the night. He wasn't sure where he had heard the name "Figg" before until now, when he remembered that the Dursleys had often left him with a Mrs. Figg whenever they decided to do something fun. But then, he dismissed that notion, seeing as how Mrs. Figg always looked like a Muggle.many wizards and witches were lacking in that quality. After struggling to get to sleep for half an hour, Harry finally succeeded. ****** "Woof! Woof!" Lupin heard a dog barking somewhere. 'That bark sounds strangely familiar to me,' he thought. 'Of course! It's Sirius! How could I have not known about that bark!.' He went to the door and opened it, and Black ran in. Lupin immediately closed the door, and Black transformed back into his human self. "Why are you here?" asked Lupin. "To alert you of the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." "What?!" "He has returned. Dumbledore told me to alert you, Arabella Figg, .--the old crowd. I've only alerted you, Arabella, and .. I still need to alert the rest of the old crowd. But Dumbledore has told me to lie low here, and he'll contact me here. "Well, I could alert the other people. After all, this is serious. We need international cooperation." "I know that. Warn Patrick McHenry. He's the Superintendent of the McMillen Schools of Magic in the United States, and I've heard that he has great influence on their government-both Muggle and Wizard. He's also one of the American Wizards that helped bring down You-Know-Who. Nobody but himself is quite sure how he got here, but they sure are glad." "I know that! I'll warn him though, but my question would be what would Albus want me to do?" "I'm not sure about that, but I'm assuming he'll tell us when he contacts me." ******  
  
Lupin had planned to contact Patrick McHenry using the fire-place method as soon as it was noon, so he wouldn't disturb McHenry in his sleep. This, however, slipped his mind while he was sending owls out to warn the rest of "The Old Crowd" as Dumbledore had put it. So when he woke at six the next morning, he decided to contact him-forgetting about the five hour time difference. (Patrick McHenry lived in the United States Eastern Time Zone) 'Shoot,' Lupin thought, 'I forgot about the time difference! Well, I might as warn him now.' "Wake up, Patrick," he said. "Five more minutes, please," mumbled Patrick McHenry "It's very important that you wake up now, Patrick." "Please, just FIVE more minutes." "PATRICK, WAKE UP!" shouted Remus Lupin. "Okay, okay, I'm getting up," McHenry said. "What do you want at one o'clock in the morning? And who are you?" "I'm Remus Lupin, a friend of Sirius Black-," Lupin started to say, but McHenry interrupted him. "Sirius Black?! Didn't he help He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kill Harry Potter's parents?! And didn't he kill thirteen people with one curse?!" "No, he was framed, and will you please let me finish my sentences?" "Okay, go on." "I am Remus Lupin, a friend of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore's-," "Albus Dumbledore!? Tell me, how do I know this is-," "I thought you weren't going to interrupt me." "Sorry." "Well, as I was saying, I am a friend of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore's. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned. Albus entrusted Sirius to alert the old crowd, which he and I have done. You're probably the last to find out. We need to figure out the plan, but the trouble is, not all of us are sure what Albus's plan is so far, or our roles." "Okay, how do I know this isn't a trick?" asked Patrick McHenry. "Well, you could contact Albus himself." "I think I will do just that. My Assistant Superintendent is the one that actually sends out the letters, and I've already got the list of students I've decided to accept to the McMillen Schools of Magic, and there are plenty of owls-most of the time there's extra owls." "One question, will you be able to find this house if Dumbledore tells you too?" "Of course, I have a knack for it." "Well, I hope I'll see you soon." "If you're lying about HIS return, I will be extremely mad at you," Patrick McHenry said. He needn't elaborate about the person that he meant by "HIS," for they all knew that it was Voldemort. Patrick had decided to set out immediately-even if he had only gotten two hours of sleep. He had a feeling that this day would come, but he always thought that there would be no warning, or that the warning would come directly from Albus Dumbledore himself. However, Patrick had been feeling that something was wrong, very wrong-it seemed to him that things were getting darker, so he decided to heed this warning seriously. He couldn't risk Muggle transportation-he didn't want to be unnecessarily delayed. He couldn't apparate because he never bothered to learn how to, and he didn't want to use Floo Powder. It was all too often that he ended up in the wrong place. So the one answer, would be to travel in his owl form-he was an Animagus, registered with the Department Of Animagi of his home state, and thus, with the United States Government of Magic-all three branches, but the United States had given the option to all Animagi to withhold the information from other governments in case of an emergency. He went to the nearest Owlery, where his friend Michael Smith, worked. ******  
  
"Ah, Patrick, what brings you here?" asked Michael. "A warning about the Dark Lord-supposedly from Albus Dumbledore, indirectly." "Th-Th-The D-D-Dark L-L-Lord?" stuttered Michael. "Yes, Michael. Well, I've written a letter to Dumbledore to see if the warning is true; as much as I dislike to admit, I think it's true. I need you to tie it to my leg when I transfigure into an owl." "O-O-Okay." At that moment, Patrick transfigured into an owl. After the transformation was complete, Michael tied the letter onto Patrick's leg, and Patrick set off in search of none other than Albus Dumbledore, himself. 'Why is that whenever he comes here, it concerns HIM? Why? Why doesn't he come here, when he's delivery some of the letters accepting students into the McMillen Schools of Magic?' thought Michael when Patrick had left. He had an all-too-terrible memory of the American Death Eaters- they had killed all his family, killed his son, killed his wife, and had attempted to kill him. His mother, father, and wife were Muggles, making him a Muggle-born and his son was half wizard (although his father was Muggle born) and half Muggle. When Matthew Allen had found out that Michael's life was in danger, he decided to make a polyjuice potion, and have Michael either be covered by an invisibility cloak or in the form of a hamster, for Michael was also an Animagi albeit an unregistered one. The plan worked, but at the cost of Matthew's life. He felt that he was responsible for Matthew's life, and so he always felt in debt to the Allens much like Harry Potter, the boy who lived, felt that he was responsible for Cedric Diggory's death and in debt to the Diggorys. 


	2. Searching for the Giants

TIMES ARE GETTING DARKER  
  
  
  
****Disclaimer**** REVISED CHAPTER I did not create these characters, so I don't own them. That honor goes to J.K. Rowling. I would also appreciate anybody's help with telling me the names that I've forgotten because some of them are very important. Also feel free to post a more accurate Hagrid-like sentences and the Madame Maxime-like sentences in your reviews because I really need those. If I misnamed a character, please tell me so. This goes for all the chapters of this story. I remind you that this is my first fan-fic. Hmm. This has been revised a little bit, but it was only revised to correct a misnaming, and a plot hole (that I discovered when re-reading this chapter to make sure that I don't create a plot hole in Chapter 4, but I was too lazy to change Chapter four which wasn't up in the original copy of the Chapter.  
  
Chapter Two: Searching for the Giants  
  
"I'm glad that yeh decided to help search for the remaining giants, Madame Maxime," Rubeus Hagrid said. He was a half-giant, as was Madame Maxime. He was also the Care of Magical Creatures Teacher and gamekeeper at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "I'm also glad that yeh've decided to admit that yeh are a half-giant."  
  
"Thank you, 'Agrid, but I think it's best if we split up—then we would increase our chances of finding at least some of them. I just hope Albus can keep 'Ogwart's safe."  
  
"Yeh can count on Dumbledore to keep Hogwart's safe. As much as I hate to admit it, I think yeh're right about us splitting up. It'll probably help. I've already sent an owl searching for them, and told them that we'd be searching for them. I just hope they respond."  
  
"Even if they don't, the owls could always track us down and tell us where they found a giant or giants."  
  
"I suppose yeh're right. I hope to see yeh soon."  
  
"Don't worry, we'll see each other again, 'Agrid."  
  
At those words, Madame Maxime and Hagrid split up on their search for the giants. It was very important that they find the giants before Voldemort's Deatheaters did. If the Deatheaters found them first, then it could surely spell the end of the era of good wizards. If either Hagrid or Madame Maxime found the giants first, then one of them could convince them that Dumbledore's side was the side to join. After all, he was already having Sirius Black and Arthur Weasley assembling some wizards and witches to fight Voldemort. Sirius was alerting several wizards and witches while Arthur was attempting to pull some strings in the Ministry of Magic to remove the Dementors from Azkaban, and maybe even getting Cornelius Fudge to be removed from his position of Minister of Magic.  
  
******  
  
"Wormtail, have you sent any envoys to the giants?" asked Voldemort, now in his body again after more than thirteen years.  
  
"Yes, master. I have. They should be able to contact them soon," responded Wormtail.  
  
"Are you sure? After all, I know Dumbledore, the Mudblood-loving fool would try to get to contact them, and he has an advantage."  
  
"If you need me to, I could arrange to—to—for them to encounter—,"  
  
"Be quiet Wormtail. I know what you mean, and you must do it. If the half-giant oaf reaches the giants before we do, then we can only rely on the Dementors."  
  
"OK, master, I-I will arrange it."  
  
"One more thing: I will not tolerate any screw-ups."  
  
"Yes, master."  
  
******  
  
All of a sudden Harry had woken up from a dream with his scar burning again. He looked at his clock, and realized, it was the exact same time he had woken up last night, but tonight he woke up because his scar was hurting, and that he had a dream—that Voldemort was planning to kill Hagrid before he could reach the giants. 'I have to warn him,' thought Harry. However, when he looked at Hedwig's cage he noticed it was empty. 'Shoot, she's out hunting.' The Dursleys still believed that Sirius Black was a murderer because Harry had left out the fact that he was innocent although he had been convicted, so they didn't abuse Harry as much as they did in other years. 'Well, I could write a letter to Dumbledore about the dream and then send it out with Hedwig when she gets back.. He'll have enough sense to warn Hagrid.' Harry wrote the letter to Dumbledore, and it said:  
  
Dear Professor Dumbledore,  
  
I had a dream about Voldemort planning to harm Hagrid before he could get to the giants, and when I woke up my scar was hurting. I'm sure this is serious and believe that Hagrid should be warned, and thought that you would know what to do.  
  
  
  
Harry  
  
Then Harry thought he better write to Sirius too about his dream and so he wrote him a letter:  
  
Dear Sirius,  
  
I woke up with my scar hurting after I had a dream about Voldemort planning to harm Hagrid to prevent him from getting to the giants before the Deatheaters. I've already written a letter to Professor Dumbledore telling him about this and that I believe that Hagrid should be warned.  
  
  
  
Harry  
  
After Harry finished his letter to Sirius, an owl was hooting at the window. It was one of the school owls. 'That's odd,' thought Harry, 'it's not time for them to send out the letters and even if it was, they're not delivered at this time.' However, Harry opened up the window to let the owl in. When he looked at the envelope, it was unmistakably a Hogwart's envelope, so he opened it, and found a letter from Dumbledore in it that said:  
  
  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I have talked to Arabella Figg and she has agreed to rent her house two streets away from the Dursleys and to set up a tent in the Burrow's yard, so you will be able to go the Weasleys for the rest of the summer. I've already contacted Arthur and Molly about my plan and they have agreed to it.  
  
  
  
Professor Albus Dumbledore  
  
Headmaster  
  
Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
  
  
  
'Well, I guess I won't have to wait for Hedwig to return to send my letter to Dumbledore,' thought Harry. "Come here," he said to the owl, "I need you to bring this to Professor Dumbledore; it's very important." The owl came to Harry and let him to his letter addressed to Dumbledore to its leg, and then the owl left. It took Harry considerably longer that night to get back to sleep than the last night. Perhaps because he was concerned about Hagrid.  
  
******  
  
'At this rate, I'll never find a giant,' thought Hagrid. He had been searching for giants since the day that Hogwart's let out the students for summer. He was beginning to worry about not being able to guide the first- years across the lake on the Hogwart's ground as he had done for so many years, and most of all, not being able to see his friends, Harry, Hermione, and Ron. 'I sure hope Madame Maxime is having better luck than me.' But at that exact moment, and owl was coming towards him: It was the owl that he had sent out searching for giants. "Come here, Penny," said Hagrid. Penny was the name of the owl. "What have yeh here?" asked Hagrid. "A letter from my mother?! She still cares about me?!" Hagrid was shocked, his mother had abandoned him and his father when he was a child, so he couldn't believe that she would respond to a letter—even if she was the first giant that Penny had encountered.  
  
Dear Hagrid,  
  
I have received your letter. Tell Professor Dumbledore that I am honored at his extension of the hand of friendship. I will try to get the other giants together and talk to them about joining your side against Voldemort (Since Hagrid's mother was a full giant, she had no worries over writing or saying his name although Hagrid cringed when he read Voldemort's name.) You have to understand that I needed to abandon you and your father for your own good. Most giants and wizards didn't approve of interspecies breeding. I can't tell you where I am, but I'm sure your owl will lead you to me.  
  
  
  
Love,  
  
Mom  
  
'I can't believe it! After more than 50 years! I never knew that full-blooded giants had that sort of lifespan. I must tell Dumbledore that I've made contact with a giant immediately,' thought Hagrid, so he immediately pulled out a piece of parchment that he was carrying and a quill, forgetting about Penny being able to lead him to his mother, and he wrote:  
  
Dear Professor Dumbledore  
  
I have contacted a giant. She has informed me that she is willing to talk to the other giants about joining forces against He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named, and she also expressed gratitude at your extension of friendship. She didn't tell me where she was, however, so I need to keep searching, but I'll just go the way Penny came from.  
  
  
  
Hagrid  
  
P.S. Thanks for letting me use Penny for this purpose.  
  
Hagrid tied the letter to Penny's leg and off she went, to deliver the letter to Dumbledore, and Hagrid started towards where she had come from, in hope of finding his mother, and ultimately more giants.  
  
'I wonder how Madame Maxime is doing. I wonder if she's contacted any giants yet,' thought Hagrid. What he didn't know, was that she had contacted, not one, but two, and had already informed Dumbledore. So far, it appeared that they, and not Voldemort, were winning.  
  
******  
  
'I seem to be having good luck. I've already contacted two giants, and they've accepted my offer. I just hope 'Agrid's doing okay,' thought Madame Maxime, of course she thought this in French. However, she didn't know that her luck was about to change.  
  
******  
  
"Master, all is set," said Wormtail, "the half-breed oaf will meet his doom."  
  
"You have done excellent, Wormtail," said Voldemort, "but if there's any screw ups, remember that you will be punished." Voldemort pulled out his wand and pointed it at Wormtail.  
  
"Yes, master."  
  
"Nagini needs food. If you don't get that oaf, you may be fed to her."  
  
"Y-Yes, m-master."  
  
******  
  
Madame Maxime was not paying attention to what was going on around her until she heard voices behind her.  
  
"This isn't the half-giant oaf our master was talking about," said one of the voices."  
  
"But she might know where he is. We have the options of two curses to get his location from her."  
  
At that moment Madame Maxime knew that she was in danger and so decided to try to get away from the voices, but it was too late.  
  
One of the voices muttered the Imperius curse, and she heard a voice in her head saying, 'Tell us where the half-giant oaf named Hagrid is.' However, she was able to fight this, thinking 'I will not tell you where he is.' After several of these exchanges in her mind, she said it aloud, "I will not tell you where 'e is!"  
  
However, the Deatheaters were prepared, and one of them pointed his wand to Madame Maxime and said, "Cruciatius." When he said this, Madame Maxime fell to the ground and twitched. She was trying unsuccessfully to fight this curse.  
  
"Tell us where the half-breed oaf is," said one of the Deatheaters.  
  
"I d-d-don't kn-kn-know, w-w-where 'e is,"  
  
"Tell us where he is."  
  
"A-A-All, I k-k-know is 'e is s-s-searching for the g-g-giants." Madame Maxime was in intense pain.  
  
"Tell us where you last saw him."  
  
"O-O-Outside t-t-the 'Ogwart's gr-gr-grounds. In 'O-Ogsmeade."  
  
At that point, the Deatheater ceased the Cruciatius curse, and was about to use the death curse, but Madame Maxime was able to get to her wand, and say, "Expelliarmus" twice, making the Deatheaters wands fly away. Then she said a stunning spell on both of them thus enabling her to escape. 'I must warn 'Agrid,' Madame Maxime thought. What she didn't know was that Harry had already sent a letter to Dumbledore, and when he would receive that letter, he would immediately write to Hagrid warning him about Voldemort's plan.  
  
******  
  
"Get your abnormal self down here!" shouted Vernon Dursley at six o'clock in the morning. Harry didn't want to get up, but he needed to in order to convince the Dursleys to let him spend the rest of the summer at the Weasleys.  
  
"I'm coming!" yelled Harry as he was getting dressed. When he went downstairs, he forgot all about his letter to Sirius.  
  
The Dursleys were having a terrible time at keeping Dudley from eating too much junk food, in fact, they needed to start paying for custom- made uniforms for Dudley. However, they were trying to get Dudley's obesity down some—just enough so they wouldn't have to pay extra money for Dudley's Smeltings School uniform.  
  
Again, the whole family was on a diet, but Harry had managed to get the Dursleys to feed him as much as they feed Dudley the summer before by mentioning that he could "write a letter to tell Sirius you're starving me." However, Dudley had a fit when he saw Harry getting the same amount of grapefruit as he was, so Petunia Dursley promptly gave Dudley another grapefruit quarter.  
  
'I need to think of a way to get them to let me go to the Weasleys,' Harry thought. After Harry gulped down his breakfast, if you could call one grapefruit quarter a breakfast, Harry went to his room, where he saw Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon, tapping on his window. He opened the window and Pigwidgeon flew in. Harry untied the letter and opened it. It read:  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
You probably already know this, but I might as well tell you. Professor Dumbledore has decided to allow you to come to The Burrow for the rest of the summer. Hermione's here too. Mom decided to ask her to send a letter to your aunt and uncle through the Muggle mail. I don't know how long it'll take for you to get that letter though.  
  
  
  
Ron  
  
Harry wrote a short letter to Ron telling him that he already knew that he could go but he still needed to convince the Dursleys to let him but that shouldn't be any trouble. He tied that letter to Pigwidgeon and then decided to eat some more food. Ron and Hermione had been sending him food as they had done last summer due to Dudley's continuing diet. After that, he remembered his letter to Sirius, and realized that was his way out of the Dursleys.  
  
******  
  
Hagrid was still searching for giants when an owl came for him. Hagrid looked at the letter and it said:  
  
Dear Hagrid,  
  
I have reason to believe that you may be in danger from Voldemort. It may be best if you keep an eye out and you may have to illegally use magic.  
  
  
  
Albus Dumbledore  
  
'I knew that when I set out,' thought Hagrid. However, he wrote Dumbledore a short thank-you note since he deserved one, and exactly one hour later, Hagrid found a giant—a female one.  
  
"Hello up there!" shouted Hagrid. Hagrid was not a full giant, and so only twice as tall and twice as wide as a normal man.  
  
The female giant looked down and saw Hagrid standing there and said, "Hagrid, is that you?"  
  
"Yes, is it yeh, mom?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I thought yeh were going ter contact the other giants?"  
  
"I am. I had dropped something back here, so I needed to come back."  
  
"Oh. Well, now that I'm here. I must tell yeh that Albus Dumbledore really wants yeh and the other giants on our side, and there's another ha1f- giant, Madame Maxime, searching for giants."  
  
"Well, I know where many of my fellow giants can be found."  
  
"Do yeh mind if I tag along?"  
  
"No. It might be good that you do, but what happened to your owl?"  
  
"I was so excited that I contacted yeh; I sent it to Dumbledore with a letter."  
  
"Well, that doesn't really matter."  
  
So, from that moment on, Hagrid's chances of finding giants seemed to increase. When they were searching for other giants, they found the two that Madame Maxime had contacted and then stumbled onto a terrified Madame Maxime that said to Hagrid, "'Agrid, you're in danger! He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named wants to kill you!"  
  
"I'll teach anyone who wants to kill my son not to mess with him!" yelled Hagrid's mother. Madame Maxime was too terrified to notice that the female giant had called Hagrid "my son."  
  
"Madame Maxime, I believe it might be good for yeh if yeh go back to yer home," said Hagrid.  
  
"'Agrid, I want to help you with convincing the giants to join our side," said Madame Maxime.  
  
"Do what yeh want." 


	3. At Dumbledore's

***Disclaimer*** I did not create all of these characters. That honor goes to J.K. Rowling. Please read and review. If I made any mistakes, please tell me. I did proofread this unusually, but I was just reading it to avoid plot holes. I know that some of it is a bit repetitive (Patrick McHenry's cringing at Voldemort's name), but that is just the way I felt like being. I am already working on Chapter Four: Off to the Burrow. By the way, if you found this before Chapter Four, re-read Chapter Two because there were some changes to it.  
  
  
  
TIMES ARE GETTING DARKER  
  
Chapter Three: At Dumbledore's  
  
  
  
Patrick McHenry, in his owl form was tapping on Albus Dumbledore's window, with a letter tied to his leg.  
  
'What does Patrick want with me?' thought Albus Dumbledore, noticing how the owl seemed to have a goatee, so he opened the window and took the letter.  
  
Dear Albus,  
  
I have received a warning of You-Know-Who's return from You-Know-Who from a wizard named Remus Lupin who said that he was a friend of yours and Sirius Black's. Was he telling the truth?  
  
  
  
Patrick  
  
"Patrick, why do you play this game?" asked Dumbledore.  
  
"It's fun," said Patrick after he transformed back into his human self, showing that he did indeed have a goatee explaining the owl's.  
  
"Well, what Remus told you was true. Voldemort has returned." At the mention of Voldemort's name, Patrick cringed.  
  
"Do you have to say HIS name?"  
  
"I see no reason not to."  
  
"You do now that it scare the living guts out of most of us, don't you?"  
  
"I know, but I scared the living guts out of Voldemort." Patrick cringed again.  
  
"So what's this about Sirius Black being framed?"  
  
"After the events of the night of Voldemort's downfall," Dumbledore said, and Patrick cringed yet again, "Peter Pettigrew encountered Sirius Black in a street with twelve Muggles, cut his own finger off, yelled 'James and Lily! How could you, Sirius?!,' blew up the street, transformed into a rat, and went into the sewer, killing twelve Muggles in the process. Cornelius Fudge was the first to arrive on the scene, and arrested Sirius—charging him with killing thirteen people with one curse. The Ministry of Magic needed to do a lot of memory charms on Muggle witnesses. Pettigrew then made himself at home at Arthur Weasley's as his son Percy's pet rat, Scabbers, and then Percy's younger brother, Ron's. Sirius was sent to Azkaban, where he only escaped about two years ago."  
  
"How did he escape?! More importantly, how did he survive?!"  
  
"By transfiguring himself into a dog."  
  
"Is that how he escaped or survived?"  
  
"Both."  
  
"So how do you know that Sirius is innocent?"  
  
"Pettigrew is alive. Three of my students saw him, and one of Hogwart's Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. We haven't had much luck with them lately. Speaking of that, since you're here, would you accept a position as Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher at Hogwart's?"  
  
"No thanks, Albus. I need to tend to the McMillen Schools of Magic and the school boards would definitely not like me resigning with such short notice."  
  
"You needn't resign. You could use a Time Turner and Portkeys."  
  
"No! I won't use a Time Turner! I've had enough of them. I don't think anybody should be allowed to use them—even if it's just for studying purposes."  
  
"As you wish. However, will you consider the job offer for next year?"  
  
"You don't sound too confident on whoever you'll get this year."  
  
"Well, you wouldn't feel confident if you'd gone through four teachers in four years and find out that the fourth teacher wasn't who you thought he was at the end of the year."  
  
"Oh. Hey what's this?" asked Patrick, noticing the Marauder's map. However, it was in it's blank state.  
  
"Oh, that's just a piece of parchment that I need to return to one of my students," said Albus Dumbledore. He had taken the Marauder's map from Barty Crouch at the end of the last school-year for safe-keeping, and he would return it to Harry on Christmas.  
  
"Why do you need to return a piece of parchment to a student?"  
  
"It's the right thing to do. You never know how much a student might be able to afford."  
  
"Oh, well about this You-Know-Who business. When did he return?"  
  
"Near the end of last school-year. He killed one of my students and attempted to kill another one. I've already taken liberty to pull some strings at the Ministry of Magic, even if Cornelius won't. I'm beginning to suspect that Cornelius is involved with Voldemort in some way." Patrick cringed at the sound of Voldemort's name—again. "He refused to believe that Pettigrew is alive and Sirius is innocent, and refuses to remove the Dementors from Azkaban. And he even brought one into the Hogwart's Castle!"  
  
"Well he was first one on the scene after the apparent death of Pettigrew and arrests Sirius. He insists keeping the Dementors at Azkaban and brought one into the Hogwart's Castle. It sounds to me that he IS on You-Know-Who's side—even if he's not a Deatheater.  
  
"He also refuses to believe that Voldemort has returned." Patrick cringed yet another time. "He also refuses to believe that we need the giants to help us."  
  
"You're asking giants to help us?!"  
  
"Yes. It's better if they're on our side than Voldemort's."  
  
After Patrick cringed yet again, he said, "You're right. I just hope they don't betray us."  
  
"I have faith that they won't. I've sent two half-giants as envoys to them. Now I need to tell you what I need you to do. You need to pull strings at your Ministry—,"  
  
"We don't have a Ministry of Magic. We have Local, County, State, and Federal Governments of Magic."  
  
"Well needless to say what they are, you need to pull strings in the United States Government of Magic."  
  
"I'll do that."  
  
"But before you do, I need you to send a letter to Sirius Black. He should be at Lupin's."  
  
"I'll do that, but do you have any idea how awkward it is asking a true owl where somebody's home is and explaining to them that you're not a real owl; that you're an Animagus?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well, believe me, it IS awkward."  
  
"I just have two words to say."  
  
"What are they?"  
  
"Mumble Jumble."  
  
"You know that I thought you were crazy when you were shouting, 'Love! Love!' at me, but then I figured out that was the weapon the Potters needed. However, now that you've said, 'Mumble Jumble,' it looks like I might have been right. So long." Patrick transfigured into an owl and let Dumbledore tie the letter to Sirius Black to his leg. Then off he flew, wondering what the letter said.  
  
'I hope the strings he pulls will pull the Ministry of Magic's strings,' thought Dumbledore. 'I better ask Hagrid if he thinks he'll be back in time for the school-year.' He wrote a letter to Hagrid, asking just that, and then sent it out with an owl that had delivered him a letter right after Patrick had left. When he looked at the letter, he saw that Hagrid had made contact with a giant. 


	4. Off to the Burrow

****Disclaimer**** I did not create all the characters in this story. If I followed my plan, I didn't create any of the characters in this chapter. That honor goes to J.K. Rowling. As usual, I did not actually proofread this, and I have no clue what a beta-reader is, so it hasn't been beta-read either.  
  
*******(IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you discovered this fic before this chapter was up, go back and re-read Chapters Two and Three. There have been some changes so this chapter would make more sense and so there would be no plot holes. I make no guarantee that I was successful in eliminating any plot holes. At least one chapter after this will start before the end of this chapter.( *******  
  
  
  
1 TIMES ARE GETTING DARKER  
  
  
  
Chapter Four: Off to the Burrow  
  
  
  
Harry went downstairs. "Hey, why are you so happy?!" asked Petunia Dursley.  
  
"Because I am, Aunt Petunia," said Harry.  
  
At that moment, Uncle Vernon shouted, "Harry what is this!? A letter from your abnormal friend's family—again?!"  
  
"I don't know, Uncle Vernon. I'd need to see it."  
  
"No! You can't have it!"  
  
"I could always tell my godfather—,"  
  
"Okay, here you go." Vernon Dursley threw the letter at him. Harry picked it up and read it. "At least they didn't use TOO MANY stamps this time."  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
I assume that Professor Dumbledore has already informed you that he has given permission for you to come to the Burrow, but I wanted to you to hear from me too. Please send a letter the normal way. I couldn't bear to ask Hermione to pick up the letter at the Muggle post office after I asked her to mail this letter. She told me I was using way too many stamps on the first envelope and so I asked her to make the letter appear that it was from one Muggle to another Muggle.  
  
  
  
Molly Weasley  
  
After reading the letter. Harry decided to find his uncle. When he found him, Harry said, "Uncle Vernon, could I go to my friend, Ron's house for the rest of the summer?"  
  
At this question, Vernon was involuntary twitching. One side of him wanted to keep Harry at Privet Drive and not happy, but the other half wanted to get rid of Harry—even if it made Harry happy. "I need to think about it!" yelled Vernon Dursley.  
  
"Okay," said Harry, as he was going upstairs to send Sirius his letter.  
  
"Hey! Where are you going?!"  
  
"Just to send my godfather a letter," replied Harry.  
  
"Okay, you can go! But don't let this make you think that you're special!" Harry ignored this remark, and continued upstairs.  
  
Once in his room, Harry sent Sirius the letter. "Hedwig, I need you to send this to Sirius. I think he might be at Professor Lupin's." Harry still called Lupin "Professor" although he was no longer a teacher at Hogwart's. Hedwig flew out and Harry got out his quill and a piece of parchment and wrote a letter to the Weasleys.  
  
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and family,  
  
I have received your letter and I managed to convince my uncle to let me come to the Burrow for the rest of the summer. However, I don't know how I'll get there seeing as you no longer have a car and using Floo Powder is not a good idea seeing how we have electrical heating.  
  
  
  
Harry  
  
When Hedwig returned the following morning, Harry gave her this letter and asked her to deliver it to the Weasleys. Hedwig already knew this journey, so she was quick and returned at two o'clock in the afternoon.  
  
The next day, Arthur and Ron Weasley all of a sudden came out of thin air it seemed, but they had used a Portkey, and Dudley ran and hid in his room. He wasn't going to let any wizard get the best of him this time.  
  
When Vernon noticed them, he said, "Take the boy and leave! I can't do with your type in my house for long. The only reason why I put up with Harry because of what your type of people could do!"  
  
Harry, Ron, and Mr. Weasley touched the portkey which happened to be an old shoe, and off they went to the Burrow.  
  
******  
  
Ron, Harry, and Mr. Weasley reappeared at the Weasley's home, The Burrow.  
  
"I'm glad you're here, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley. "Hermione's with Ginny, Fred and George, de-gnoming the garden. Ron, you need to help."  
  
"Mom, do I have to?" said Ron.  
  
"Yes. Harry, if you don't want to, you don't have to de-gnome the garden."  
  
"Thank you Mrs. Weasley, but I think I'll go help Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, and Hermione," said Harry. Ron and Harry went outside to de-gnome the garden.  
  
******  
  
When Ron and Harry got to the garden, they joined the de-gnoming.  
  
"Thanks for the money, Harry," said Fred and George simultaneously while snickering. They were glad that they would be able to open up a magical pranks shop upon graduation from Hogwart's. In fact, they had decided not only to make canary creams but cat chocolate and chocolate trans-frog-ation frogs, but they decided to specifically state that this chocolate should not be used for medicinal purposes especially when the ailment was serious.  
  
"Well, it was the least I could do," said Harry while he was spinning a gnome, "I tried to give it to the Diggorys but they didn't take it." Harry threw the gnome out of the garden.  
  
"Why'd you do that?" asked Fred and George at exactly the same time.  
  
"Cedric got there first."  
  
"Oh. Well, remember the canary creams?" asked Fred  
  
"Yeah. But don't try to pull that trick on me."  
  
"Well, here have a taste of this," said George referring to the chocolate frog in his hand as Fred spun and threw a gnome out of the garden.  
  
Harry should have known better, but he took the chocolate frog and ate it.  
  
"We should warn you about something about that chocolate frog," said Fred and George.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Actually, we added it to another chocolate frog," said Fred. At that exact moment, Harry turned into a frog.  
  
"Our mistake. It was THAT one," said George, and Harry turned back into himself.  
  
"I should have known better," said Harry as he picked up a gnome, spun it, and threw it out of the garden. "But you're not supposed to practice magic outside of Hogwart's."  
  
"That doesn't count. We made the potion while we were at school," said Fred and George at the same time.  
  
******  
  
"So, when are you going to tell him?" Hermione asked Ginny as she threw a gnome out of the garden..  
  
"I'm not sure yet," said Ginny, blushing and throwing a gnome out of the garden. "These gnomes ARE stupid."  
  
"Well, I suggest you tell him soon. After all, he did have a crush on Cho Chang last year."  
  
"Okay."  
  
They were, of course, talking about Ginny telling Harry she liked him  
  
******  
  
After an hour and a half, the de-gnoming was complete, and Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione went inside the house.  
  
"Are you finished?" asked Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"Yes," Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny said.  
  
"Well, I need to remind you that Mrs. Figg is coming soon," said Mrs. Weasley to everyone. "Harry, she should be bringing your stuff."  
  
"Mrs. Figg?!" asked Harry.  
  
"Yes. She's a friend's of Professor Dumbledore's."  
  
"The Mrs. Figg that lives two streets away from the Dursleys?"  
  
"Yes, Harry. Professor Dumbledore asked her to move into that house…," Mrs. Weasley trailed off.  
  
"But I always thought she wasn't a witch and how could she have broken her leg?" asked Harry.  
  
"She is a Squib, but some of the cats she appeared to own were wizards or witches. She actually did trip over one of her cats on your cousin's eleventh birthday."  
  
"Oh. Well how is she managing to get my stuff?"  
  
"She'll manage."  
  
******  
  
An hour later, Mrs. Arabella Figg showed up at the Burrow with Harry's stuff and a Professor McGonnagal—as a cat. Harry decided to ask her how she had managed to get his stuff, and so she explained.  
  
***Flashback***  
  
"Why, Arabella, what brings you here?" asked Petunia Dursley.  
  
"Well, I'm moving temporarily, and where I'm moving to is near where Harry is, and one of those type of people asked me to bring Harry's stuff there."  
  
"You're doing an errand for those abnormal people?"  
  
"Well, I suppose you could say that they're abnormal, seeing as how they're not the majority."  
  
"How do you know about them though?"  
  
"I've had immediate relatives like them," said Mrs. Figg, choosing her words very carefully.  
  
"Well, that's fine. If you want, you can get the abnormal's stuff from his room," said Petunia Dursley, so Mrs. Figg went up to Harry's room after Petunia Dursley told her where it was, got Harry's stuff, and brought it to her house two streets away. Professor McGonnagal had cast a spell on Mrs. Figg's car and the tent that Mrs. Figg would be using so they would be able to fit a lot of stuff. After all the packing was done, Professor McGonnagal transfigured into a cat, and both her and Mrs. Figg got into the car and drove to the Burrow. The Muggle family renting Mrs. Figg's house had already arrived, but they were sleeping due to a long drive, so they never noticed anything strange.  
  
***End Flashback***  
  
Mrs. Figg set up her bewitched tent while Professor McGonnagal explained the importance of having an Animagus protecting Harry, but with the addition of Percy, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the protection would increase. Professor McGonnagal also explained that sometime in the summer, there would be a lot of owls unless another cat Animagus would take her place. This was a down-side, because it would be hard to hide the unusual situation with the owls.  
  
"Professor, I understand. I've already begun pulling some strings at the Ministry of Magic. All we need is some evidence about He-Who-Must-Not- Be-Named's helpers. I've come to the recent conclusion, that he's too smart to have all his helpers Deatheaters," said Mr. Weasley.  
  
"Albus has also come to that conclusion, and he told me to tell you that, but since you've already come to it, then I guess I don't have to. But I should tell you that Albus thinks that Cornelius Fudge is one of You- Know-Who's helpers."  
  
******  
  
"Wormtail, you've failed! Not only did the two Deatheaters get the wrong half-breed oaf, but they allowed her to get away!" yelled Voldemort, gaining power every moment. "You must be punished, but I've decided that you won't be fed to Nagini, but those two Deatheaters are another story."  
  
"I-I-I'm sorry, m-m-master, it won't—," Wormtail tried to say, but Voldemort interrupted him.  
  
"Silence! You will perform the Cruciatus curse on yourself. If you don't do it willingly, I'll make you do it."  
  
"Yes, m-m-master," Wormtail said, and then he pointed his wand to himself and said, "Cruciatus." It was agony, until Wormtail finally managed to get his wand, after Voldemort told him he could stop, point it towards himself, and mutter the anti-curse.  
  
"I hope you have second thoughts of messing up next time. Now get those two goof-ups her. Nagini needs food, and I don't have any mudbloods, Muggles, half-breeds, or Muggle-lovers to feed to her."  
  
"Y-Y-Yes, m-m-master." Wormtail went to get the two Deatheaters.  
  
Voldemort had decided to use kill them before feeding Nagini, thus making him gain his power more quickly: Nagini eating wizards and witches made Voldemort stronger. He was hoping that it would be strong enough to kill the last remaining heir of Gryffindor. Voldemort could never understand how the last heir had survived. It made no sense. There was no way of fighting it—or so thought Voldemort and the majority of other witches and wizards, but the one way of fighting it was love, and Dumbledore had discovered this in The Order of The Phoenix Prophecies, in one of the parts that nobody else could translate, and he had promptly told Patrick McHenry of this, and when McHenry finally figured it out, rushed to tell the Potters of this weapon against the worst of the Forbidden Curses.  
  
"M-Master, h-h-here they are," said Wormtail."  
  
"Good, you must go now. I'll tell you when you can return."  
  
"Y-Yes m-m-master."  
  
Voldemort stated the death spell, and a green light shot out, and killed one of the Deatheaters. "Eat, Nagini, eat," said Voldemort before he said the spell again, killing the other Deatheater. "There's your desert Nagini." The snake then swallowed this Deatheater whole. Voldemort had already felt his power getting stronger. 'It is time, to start using the Dementors," Voldemort thought, 'Cornelius has been a good servant—pretending to refuse to believe that Worm tail's still alive, Sirius Black is innocent, and that the Dementors would turn to my side. However, the Mudblood-loving fool, Dumbledore, must know by now.'  
  
******  
  
The rest of the summer went by too quickly for Harry; perhaps because he was happy that he was with his friends and not the dreaded Dursleys. Ginny had promised herself to tell Harry that she liked him every day, but could never get the courage up. (A/N: I do something similar, promising myself that I will tell a girl I like her every day, but never getting enough courage up.) Fred, George, and Harry practiced Quidditch—with apples and close to the ground to prevent Muggles from seeing them. Harry was surprised the summer was almost over when he received the letter from Hogwart's.  
  
'Don't tell me the summer's almost over,' thought Harry, looking at the letter. The usual was in there, the book list for his classes, the actual letter, but there was also an extra thing in there: a piece of parchment telling him he had been made a prefect. Ron and Hermione had also been made prefects. Nobody was surprised about Hermione becoming one, but they were at Ron and Harry becoming prefects. 


	5. The Tasks

***Disclaimer***  I do not own most of these characters.  That honor goes to J.K. Rowling  I have created some for the sake of the plot and adding an American to the _Harry Potter_ universe.  If the format looks a little different, it's because I've decided to save this as a Web Page (.html, .htm file) instead of a .doc file.  I remind you that this is my first fan fic (or fifth if you go by number of chapters), and I don't normally proofread the chapters besides a  simple spell check and we all know that the grammar checkers are useless so I don't bother with that.  It's kind of hard not to with those squiggly lines in Word.  Please tell me what character I'm dreadfully missing.  I don't know his name and I really need it.  Remember to Read and Review.  I know part of my Disclaimer in Chapter Two doesn't make as much sense as I thought it did, but who reads them anyways?  That was a rhetorical question.  Also, I'm too lazy to change it.  

Times are getting darker

Chapter Five:  The Tasks

Patrick McHenry flew to Remus Lupin's in his owl form, carrying the letter that Professor Albus Dumbledore had given him.  He saw that there was a hippogriff flying ahead of him towards Lupin's.  (He had asked an owl where Lupin's house was.)  What he did not know was that it was Buckbeak trying to find Sirius Black because hippogriffs were very noble creatures and they knew that they needed to help as much as they could.

****** 

Buckbeak landed and proceeded to find a place where he would be safe from prying Muggle-eyes; hippogriffs were also very intelligent.  Patrick flew to a window and tapped on it, and Lupin opened the window letting him in, and took the letter.  Along with Sirius Black, they read the letter:

_Dear Sirius and Remus,_

_I have been contacted by Professor McHenry who notified me of your warning to him.  At this point in time, I would like to inform you of a task that  I would like both of you to do:  Post guard at Hogwart's this year, but try to keep your movements hidden from most students.  I know for a fact that there are at least three students who are children of Deatheaters.  When you come to Hogwart's, I would like to inform you about the _Order of the Phoenix Prophecies_.  They seem to be very important at this particular junction of time.  I would also like you to inform … that I want to talk to him about what his tasks will be._

Albus Dumbledore 

            "Well, Sirius, I think we better let Professor Dumbledore that we will do what we ask.  But what are these _Order of the Phoenix Prophecies_?" said Lupin.

            "I'm not quite sure," replied Black, as he was grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill.  He then started writing a letter to Dumbledore, explaining to him that they would do their tasks but they were confounded about what the _Order of the Phoenix Prophecies_ were.  "Probably prophecies."  After Black finished writing the letter, he asked, "Now where's that owl?"  However, McHenry had transfigured back into his human self.

            "You won't find the owl, Sirius.  I was him," said McHenry

            "Ah, hello Patrick.  How are you?"  asked Lupin.

            "I'm fine.  You and Sirius?"

            "Fine except for being confused."

            "What are you confused about?"

            "The _Order of the Phoenix Prophecies_," said Black.

            "Ah, those.  I translated some of them, and many other people translated the other portions, but yet some still haven't been translated.  We've tried every single known language, but yet the remaining ones don't fit anywhere."

            "But what are they?" asked Black.

            "I'm sure Albus will tell you.  You'll be surprised by how much they reveal."

            "Oh," said Lupin and Black at the same time.

            "Well, I probably should head back to the States.  I **_do_** have several schools to run.  I should be back around Christmas, at the latest."  Patrick McHenry transfigured himself into an owl, and left, flying towards the United States.  Now, not only did he have to run more than 50 schools, but he needed to try to protect his students even more than he had since the first rise of Voldemort, and part of that was getting the U.S. Government of Magic to try to find and prosecute the American Deatheaters.

            Lupin wrote the letter to … (A/N:  Come on people, tell me who I'm missing!  One of you has to know!  I know the name was in the last book, but I'm too lazy to look!), telling him that Dumbledore wanted to tell him what his tasks would be.

(A/N:  Sorry that this was so short, but I ran out of things to write in this chapter, but at least I got it up J.  I wondered if the smiley actually worked by Word automatically changes a : and ) typed right next to it to a smiley face.)


	6. The Giants' Conference

TIMES ARE GETTING DARKER  
  
Disclaimer: Do I really need to type the same thing over again? I'll do it anyways, I don't own most of the characters in this story. That honor goes to J. K. Rowling. Also, I do not have a beta reader and usually don't check for grammar errors because I'm too lazy too. Unfortunately, Word is messed up, so I've had to resort to WordPad meaning I cannot save this as a webpage. I have decided to show emphasis and letters in CAPS instead of bold and italics. If I can figure out another way to save and upload stories as web pages, I will do that. Also, feel free to post more Madame Maxime-like and Hagrid-like sentences.  
  
Chapter Six: The Giants' Conference  
  
After months of searching for giants, Hagrid, his mother, and Madame Maxime were able to get all the giants together in an obscure place where a very large (in more ways than one) would not be noticed by unsuspecting eyes to discuss whether the giants should help Dumbledore in the upcoming war with Voldemort.  
  
"Why should we fight for any wizards? Most of them spread HORRIBLE rumors about us without even talking to us!" roared one giant.  
  
"That is not the point. I believe that Muggles do have an old adage mentioning picking the lesser of the two evils," said Hagrid's mother.  
  
"The Muggles don't even know we exist! Why are you bringing them into this discussion?!" roared another giant.  
  
"Most Muggles also don't know about wizards and witches, but many of them have decided to protect the Muggles from the horrors that some others would inflict upon them," said Hagrid's mother.  
  
"'E-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named would certainly turn against you if you chose his side," said Madame Maxime.  
  
"How do you know that Professor Dumbledore won't turn against us after this?" asked a giant.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore is a good person. He won't turn on yeh," Hagrid said.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Because when I was a student at Hogwarts and got expelled because of something He-Who-Mustn't-be-Named did, he made sure that I would be allowed to be the gameskeeper at Hogwarts."  
  
"But you are part wizard!" roared a giant from the back of the crwod.  
  
"That doesn't matter. Professor Dumbledore want's yeh to help. He might even get it so the wizards will protect yeh!" said Hagrid.  
  
"Why should we believe you?!" roared yet another giant.  
  
"Stop it! 'E is right. Dumbledore can influence the Ministry of Magic in Britain, and 'e has contacts all over the world that 'e can use to influence the Ministry of Magics in other nations!" yelled Madame Maxime. "If you don't join us and decide to join You-Know-Who, he'll do TERRIBLE things to you IF 'E WINS!"  
  
"Well, how long do you think we have?" asked Hagrid's mother.  
  
"If Dumbledore is right, not too much more time," said Hagrid.  
  
"Well, how about we stay here for a week and decide whether or not to join with Dumbledore's forces?" asked Hagrid's mother.  
  
"That sounds fine. I just hope we have enough time," said Hagrid.  
  
"But what if some of us don't want to join a side?" roared a very angry giant.  
  
"No problem. Only those who want to join will have to. If you don't care, don't vote." said Hagrid's mother.  
  
This was accepted by every giant at the conference, and after a week of debates, the decision was clear: The giants would join Dumbledore's side, but they needed to be inconspicous (or at the verty least as close to it as possible.  
  
*****  
  
"Cornelius," said Voldemort, "We need to do something about Dumbledore. If the Order of the Phoenix is correct, he will soon reveal Potter's ancestry to him."  
  
"Yes, master," replied Cornelius Fudge. "It's a shame they can't prove that I'm helping you! Mwhahaha!"  
  
"Well, we need to figure out someway to remove him from Hogwart's."  
  
"No problem, I'll frame him for something horrible, and that should get him out of Hogwart's."  
  
"You better not fail, but I want the boy to know that he is the heir of Gryffindor, perhaps that'll turn him to revenge. Mwhahahaha!"  
  
"Yes, master. I think I may know a crime that Dumbledore could be framed for already: Interference with Muggles."  
  
"Ah, treachery. A perfect quality my ancestor Salazar Slytherin looked for in his pupils. Pretending to be a protector of the Muggles, but in reality spelling their doom!"  
  
"Being Minister of Magic does have its advantages, and I bet you'd like it that I'm fighting to keep the Dementors at Azkaban so a lot of your Deatheaters will be able to wreak havoc throughout the world!"  
  
"Yes. However, you've get to keep the eyes on the Weasleys, Arthur in particular."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He's working with Dumbledore to rid Azkaban of the Dementors, and possibly to remove you from your post as Minister of Magic. Also, the Weasleys are the heirs of Hufflepuff. It is no coincidence that Harry met them at the train station. I believe Dumbledore had a role in that."  
  
"Okay, I will keep an eye on him, and might even frame him for the same crime that I'll frame Dumbledore for. If only I could find Sirius Black. I think he knows the truth about you and me, my lord."  
  
"Don't worry about him for now. If he hears Harry's in trouble, he'll try to find him."  
  
"Well, I think it's best that we stop this conversation. We don't want anybody to know that I'm helping you." And with those words, Voldemort's head disappeared from the fireplace. 'Nobody will know,' Cornelius Fudge thought to himself whie smirking an evil smirk. Helping Voldemort had been the Ultimate crime, but no one knew that he himself had done it. Everybody had thought that all Voldemort's helpers were Deatheaters, but the Heir of Slytherin wasn't going to make that mistake, and Cornelius had intentionally freed a few Deatheaters for the purpose of aiding Voldemort's return to power.  
  
*****  
  
The giants had set off in their different ways to Hogwarts, but in small groups. Only two giants did not want to help Dumbledore at first, but after awhile they changed their minds, and started heading towards Azkaban in order to remove the Dementors from their posts. After all, many wizards were scared of giants as well as Dementors. The Giants' Conference was successful in creating a wizard/witch-giant alliance. Small groups of giants (two or three) were as inconspicous as they could get without risking too much safety, and Hagrid and Madame Maxime split up in order to protect two separate groups: the groups that the giants had voted the most valuable to the fight against Voldemort. The march to Hogwart's continued for a long time.  
  
(A/N: I have decided to make a trilogy out of this whole story line. The first story (this story) will take up the fifth and sixth years of Harry's training at Hogwart's; the second will take place in Harry's seventh year. The title is to be determined, and last but not least the third and final story will start to take place about eleven years after the final battle with Voldemort. Note, I might have to up the rating of this story to "R" to do what I want with it, but that won't be until I add a chapter that is worthy of that rating) 


	7. Return to Diagon Alley

***Disclaimer:*** I did not create all the characters in this work of fiction. That honor goes to J.K. Rowling. Also, for the inevitable case of The Order of the Phoenix eventually appearing, this story is another version of what may have happened. Well, I think that's all for now except the usual warning about not checking grammar and spelling because I'm lazy. I upped the rating to PG-13 just to be safe. Oh yeah, I've decided to allow you to MiST this entire storyline if you want. That involves all the previous chapters as well as later chapters of the entire trilogy. By the way, does anybody know why we're fascinated with trilogies? Look at this: The original Star Wars trilogy, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Why? Oh well. I hope you enjoy this story. Remember, Read and Review.  
  
TIMES ARE GETTING DARKER  
  
Chapter Seven: Return to Diagon Alley  
  
"Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, it's time to go to Diagon Alley to get your school supplies," yelled Molly Weasley. It was that time of year again. As all four teens came downstairs, it was hectic. They needed to use floo powder even though it wasn't Harry's favorite mode of travel.  
  
"Hermione, do you have money?" asked Harry.  
  
"Yes. I'll have to exchange it when we get to Gringott's though," replied Hermione.  
  
Mrs. Weasley took a pinch of floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. The fire changed color, and one by one, each person stepped into the flames, yelled "Diagon Alley," and disappeared. They then appeared where they wanted to--in Diagon Alley. Harry was relieved because the first time he had used floo powder he had ended up in Knockturn Alley instead of Diagon Alley. Once everyone was there, they headed to Gringotts.  
  
"Something seems different," said Harry as they were walking to Gringotts. "I don't know what though."  
  
"That's strange, I'm having the same feeling," said Hermione.  
  
As it turned out, they all were having that same strange feeling that something was different. Something, was in fact different. The sky wasn't the same; instead it was more omnious.  
  
They reached Gringotts, and the door goblin bowed them in. Hermione promptly went to exchange her Muggle money. It wasn't going to be accepted anywhere else in the wizarding world. After Hermione exchanged her money, the three Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione went down to the vaults. They stopped at the Weasley vault first, and Mrs. Weasley scooped up the little money that she had. Next was Harry's vault. Harry tried to block Mrs. Weasley's view of the vault as he scooped a small portion of his money because he felt guilty with having as much money as he did. After Harry gathered his money, they went back up to the ground level of Gringott's and left.  
  
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, then bought their books for the current year. After the books, they bought their other school supplies. Then came some robe-fitting. Both Ron and Harry had experienced growth spurts during the summer, and Ginny and Hermione needed to get their robes refitted too because they were experiencing a certain feminine change.  
  
When all their back-to-school shopping done it was 2:00 p.m.--they hadn't eaten since breakfast, so they stopped to grab a bite to eat.  
  
"Kids, stay here. I need to visit the restroom," said Mrs. Weasley. She got up to go.  
  
All of the sudden, none other than Draco Malfoy walked towards them and said, "Well, isn't this nice, the famous Potter with his friends the Weasels and the Mudblood."  
  
"Hey. Don't you know to watch your mouth when a lady's around!" yelled Ron.  
  
"Ooh. Like I'm scared of you, Weasel," Draco said in a mocking tone.  
  
Harry then stood up, and yelled, "Just because your two friends are dumb doesn't mean that you can mock mine!"  
  
"Actually, I can!"  
  
"Okay, you've asked for it."  
  
"Asked for what?"  
  
"Remember you as a ferret? Specifically, a bouncing ferret?"  
  
At that Draco ran off very scared and almost crying.  
  
"What a baby," said Ron. "He probably went crying off to his Deatheater dad."  
  
"I'm glad he didn't call my bluff," said Harry.  
  
"You were bluffing?" asked a shocked Hermione.  
  
"Of course. I couldn't remember that spell if my life depended on it," replied Harry.  
  
All through this Ginny was sitting quietly wondering when she should tell Harry she liked him or if she even should.  
  
"So how about not breaking any rules," Ron said trying to keep a straight face unsuccessfully before he burst out laughing.  
  
"Like that's going to happen. You and Harry always break the rules. I'm surprised we've managed to win the house cup with you two," said Hermione.  
  
"Hey, you've broken your fair share of rules too" said Ron.  
  
"Only because you and Harry talked me into it," defended Hermione.  
  
"Not all the time," corrected Harry.  
  
"OK, I've broken some rules on my own, but that doesn't mean that I'll continue," Hermione replied but couldn't keep a straight face. "Oh, forget about it."  
  
"Fine," said Harry and Ron at the same time.  
  
At that moment, Mrs. Weasley came back and said, "Well, it's time to get back to the Burrow." At that, they all went to the Fire place designated "Diagon Alley" on the Floo Network, and Mrs. Weasley tossed a pinch of Floo Powder into the fire place, and one bye one, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley stepped into the fire place, said "The Burrow," and were transported back to the Burrow.  
  
******  
  
"Ah, I'm glad you all came here earlier than is required," said Professor Dumbledore. "As you all know by now, Voldemort is back into human form."  
  
At those words everyone cringed.  
  
"I have strong belief that it will not be long until he tries to penetrate Hogwart's himself," Dumbledore continued. "I would like to thank Remus Lupin and Sirius Black for agreeing to guard Hogwart's, and for Professor Moody deciding that he'll carry out his one-year committment to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts because of the fact that he wasn't able to last year due to unforeseen circumstances. I would also like to thank Miss Fleur Delacour for deciding to sub for Hagrid as Care of Magical Creatures Teacher and Gameskeeper."  
  
"Thank you," Mad-Eye Moody, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Fleur Delacour said at the same time.  
  
"Now, even with these guards, we should all be on alert, especially with the last living Heir of Gryffindor being one of our students."  
  
Everyone accepted this and knew who this student was. They just hoped they could protect him.  
  
(A/N: I wonder if you can guess how the Heir of Gryffindor will be? You probably can, but I just wanted to ask.) 


	8. The Sorting Hat's Mistake

TIMES ARE GETTING DARKER  
  
Disclaimer: By now, you have to know what the general disclaimer is, but just in case you don't--I do not own most of the characters in this story. J.K. Rowling Does. I used Arlen for the last name of the first student to be sorted because it begins with an "A", and I watched King of the Hill last night. The character is mine, but the last name isn't. Also, I don't check for spelling and grammar because I'm too lazy too as well as the fact that Microsoft Word isn't working so I've resorted to Wordpad, but I now know how to save as a webpage using it, so the good formatting SHOULD be back, but it isn't. Maybe because the originally saved one was a .txt file. I also remind you that this is my first fan fic (or eighth if you count by chapters). If any one would like to be a beta reader, I would not mind but just tell me about improvements and errors to avoid uneccessarily large-sized e-mails.  
  
Chapter Eight: The Sorting Hat's Mistake  
  
"Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, get down here!" yelled Mrs. Weasley. They were running late and didn't want to miss the Hogwart's Express. Harry and Hermione had already came down since they had spent the end of the summer at the Burrow.  
  
Ron and Ginny came running down the stairs, almost tripping over them and each other.  
  
"Sorry Mum, but I couldn't find something," said Ron.  
  
"There's no time for that now," said Mrs. Weasley, "we need to get going so you won't miss the train."  
  
At that Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Mr. and Mrs. Wesley raced out the door, and had managed to get onto one of the wizard's world magical buses. Now, these magical buses are naturally like cabs, driving anywhere and as fast as they can but better: buildings hop out of the way and the bus is also capable of apparation.  
  
Luckily, the bus's first stop was always the station on the first day of school at Hogwart's since at least 30% of the families ran late.  
  
All the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione got off the bus.  
  
"There's no time to say good bye to you, just get to the platform in time," said Mrs. Weasley, and Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny started running with their luggage that the bus had been able to carry. They had just made it to the train on time.  
  
***************  
  
"So what do you think it'll be like this year?" asked Ron.  
  
"I don't know, but I'm glad the Dursleys still believe Sirius is a murderer," said Harry.  
  
"Why?" asked Hermione.  
  
"They treat me better when I tell them about Sirius. Plus, I just told them he was a convicted murderer, so I didn't lie."  
  
"You still didn't tell the whole truth," said Hermione.  
  
"If you lived with the Dursleys, you would understand. Plus, I will tell them once I'm out of Hogwart's."  
  
At that moment, Draco burst in with Crabbe and Goyle saying, "Weasel, Potter! I can't believe I thought you were actual Crabbe and Goyle in second year. You've sunk lower than me!"  
  
"Hey! How'd you find that out?" asked Ron.  
  
"Remember the ferret. The white, bouncing ferret," said Harry. "Also, what took you so long?" However, the question was useless because Draco ran out crying. He still hadn't come to grips with the bouncing white ferret that the Bartemius Crouch Jr. posing as Mad-Eye Moody transformed him into. "Oh!" exclaimed Harry, slapping himself on the head. "I'm such an idiot!" He had just realized Professor Dumbledore had told him that Arabella Figg had lived two streets down in his letter during the summer.  
  
"What?" asked Ron who hadn't really been paying attention.  
  
"Nothing. I was just talking to myself," said Harry.  
  
*********  
  
"First-year this way," said Madame Fleur Delacour.  
  
"That's odd. Normally Hagrid ushers the first years to the lake. I wonder where he is," said Harry.  
  
"He's probably doing an errand for Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione. "Regardless, we need to catch the carriages." So Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione hopped onto a carriage that went around the lake to Hogwart's.  
  
***********  
  
When everyone had gathered in the Great Hall for the Sorting and the First Feast of the year, Professor Dumbledore said, "Before we begin the Sorting Ceremony, I have a few announcements to make. First, everyone is forbidden from entering the forest unless accompanied by a staff member. Second, Alastor Moody has decided to follow through with his one-year commitment to being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher seeing as how unforeseen circumstances prevented him from doing so last year. Third, and finally, Madame Fleur Delacour will be substituting for Hagrid as Gameskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher until he returns from a previous engagement. She may continue to teach with Hagrid, if she so chooses."  
  
When he was finished, speaking, the Sorting Hat was brought out and sung its song. The last three lines were:  
  
In all the years I've been sorting I've never made a mistake.  
  
"Arlen, Erin," said Professor McGonnagol.  
  
At this time, a nervous first-year came up, and the sorting hat was placed on her head. The hat took a few seconds to decide where to put her, and then shouted out "Hufflepuff!" All of Hufflepuff clapped.  
  
"Bradt, Jonathan," called Professor McGonnagol.  
  
Another nervous first-year came up, and the sorting hat was placed on his head. It exclaimed "Gryffindor!" almost immediately, and all of Gryffindor applauded.  
  
The next four students were sorted into Slytherin so quickly by the Sorting Hat, it was hardly realized that they were even sorted except by the Slytherin students who applauded loudly.  
  
The next three students were sorted into Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin respectively. Each house clapped as a student was sorted into their house.  
  
"This can't be good; a lot of students are being sorted into Slytherin," said Harry. Ron and Hermione told him that they agreed.  
  
The sorting hat continued sorting until there were three new Gryffindors, three new Hufflepuffs, four new Ravenclaws, and seven new Slytherins then Megan Kepple was called to be sorted.  
  
"Hmm. You are a tough one," said the Sorting Hat. "You have characteristics of a Gryffindor, characterstics of an Hufflepuff, characterics of a Ravenclaw, and characterstics of a Slytherin. However, I sense you don't want to go into Slytherin, so I ask, are you sure."  
  
At that point, Megan whispered, "Yes."  
  
"Well, then Slytherin is out. Hmm. I don't think Gryffindor will suit you as well as either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, so Gryffindor is out. However, you can do great things in both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I need to think carefully about this one."  
  
"Just, place me in either one. I don't care which."  
  
"Well, in that case, it better be HUFFLE--" at that point, all of Hufflepuff started to applaud, but the Sorting Hat finished, "CLAW!"  
  
Hufflepuff stopped applauding, and everyone was shocked--the Sorting Hat had done something it never had done before--it had made a mistake. The teachers discussed this and decided on what would be the appropiate action.  
  
"May I have everyone's attention?" Dumbledore asked. "Due to this highly improbable mistake by the Sorting Hat, we have decided to postpone the rest of the Sorting Ceremony. I would like all the prefects to lead their Houses to the dorms. However, I would like to speak to Fred, George, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy when as soon as they can get to my office. Unsorted students, that includes Megan Kepple, will remain here with Madame Delacour and Professors McGonnagal, Sprout, and Flitwick. You will report to meals at the normal time and classes will most likely be delayed at least one day. That is all."  
  
The prefects lead their houses to the dormitories, with the unsorted students staying in the Great Hall while Professor Dumbledore headed to his office.  
  
A/N: I like putting this note at the end, thanks whoever does this for inspiring me to do it. Ok, now to the note about my fic. Please review this fic. It took eight, long chapters, but we're finally at Hogwart's. Now, you may be wondering, why Ginny hasn't talked about Harry in a while. It's not that I've forgotten, it's just that I couldn't find the right time in this chapter too, but I am planning something about her and Harry later. It will be necessary for the plot of the trilogy. Just in case you're wondering, the next chapter will be entitled "The Order of the Phoenix Prophecies," and I bet you thought I forgot that the fifth book will be titled The Order of the Phoenix. By the way, the rating may eventually go up to R, but I don't see why I should rate it R before it is worthy of that rating. You can MiST all of this story so far, and you will be able to MiST the entire trilogy when it is complete--whenever that may be. 


End file.
